Game apparatus



Feb. 19,1946. L w, DRUEKE 2,395,174

GAME APPARATUS Filed Nov. 13,, 1942 402mg Y Patented Feb. 19, 1946 OFFICE APPARATUS William F; lJi-ueke, Grand Rapids, Mich. Application Nvember13, 1942, Serial No, teams 3 Claims.

inv n i n re at s to a novel. and simple gameapparatus of utility in connection with gam s o h chess and che ker. type. or others: of a similar nature, in which a number of men or ount sa e sed, and moved QYera board'in cor nce Wi h s al. rul sof playin such, games. 7

The ordinary checker orchessboard is of a, rel.- atively large size in comparison: with the. board normally used with myinvention and is not read 1y transportable. thatis. c rri d in a. pocket;

and the board and chessmen or checkers used are ordinarily separate from each otherwhen not in use with a considerable liability of loss unless care is exerted in keeping the chessmen or checks, from being scattered or mislaid.

With my invention the means forplaying a game of the kind indicated is provided in which the. game board is of small ize with the; chessmen, che kers or other counters used similarly of small size and allare kept together when not, used in playing the game againstv any loss or dispersion. Further, the entire game apparatus, including the board and 'thecounters may be placed upon a shelf, for example in a bookcase, in a vertical position, the boardbeing covered with a coveringof thenature used in bookcoverings and, if desired, the vertical edge of the cover presented at the front of the shelf of the bookcase may carry the name of the game, the method of covering being applicable to many and various types of games in which the various implements which may be used in playing the game are thus held and. retained against loss and are always available when needed.

To these ends I have provided a simple, novel and very practical game apparatus, an understanding of a structural embodiment of which may be had from the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, in which,

Fig. l is a plan view of the apparatus in its opened form ready for the playing of the game.

Fig. 2 is a partial side elevation and vertical section therethrough, the apparatus in Fig. 2 being full size, and

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary enlarged vertical section and partial elevation illustrating the mannor of securing the cover over the board and implements used therewith.

Like reference characters refer to like parts in the different figures of the drawing.

The board I is made of a block of wood or other equivalent material and is shown as square in outline, carrying at its upper face, as at 2, the

against the opposite end of layout of a checker or chess board. The block lat its under side and between two of its,v oppositeside ed es is cut away to provide a recess having parallel sides in which a tray in which chossmen or checkers are adapted to be. placed is received. The tray has a horizontal bottom 3, vertical endsi and vertical sides 5 (Fig. 2). and, isslidable into. and out of saidrecess in the under Side. of the block I, being slidable in either direc tion.

'lhe block i is secured at its under sideto a. cover Section t or be similar to that used for book covers, Said under section ii of the cover forms the bottom over which the tray previously described is moved in its inward, and outward slidable movements. At one edge of the cover 8 at one end of the tray and the adjacent end of the block I a section 1 is integrally connected and is bendable along the. scored line 8 so as to be turned vertically against said end of the tray and block. The cover is: continued from the section I in a top section 9, integral therewith and bendable along the score at It] whereby the section 9 may be brought over and cover the upper side of the block I upon which the game board indicia is placed. 7

At the other end of the. block and tray said cover has a, second end section I l, which may be. turned upwardly on a scored line at I2 to come the block and tray. The cover member is completed by a terminal section I3 extending from the end section H and which is bendable about the scored line at l4 to be turned to engage with the upper cover section 9.

As shown in Fig. 3, the upper cover section 9 at its free end portions and a distance back therefrom includes two separable outer and inner portions 9a and 9b, thereby providing a pocket open at the edges of the upper cover section to receive the terminal section l3, the free edge of which may be inserted into the pocket and then pressed inwardly until said terminal section I3 is substantially wholly received in said pocket and frictionally retained.

It is obvious that with the chessmen, checkers or other counters of a similar game placed within the tray and the tray moved to its inner position as in Fig. 2, the cover may be closed as described and the board and the tray with said devices therein put at any place where it may be desired to keep when not used. Such board, tray and game counters may be carried in a pocket and there will be no danger of dispersal or loss of any part of the checkers, chessmen, or other counters.

suitable material which may.

The tray is held against movement when the cover is closed. There is no metal or any character or description required, the tray in practice being made of paper stock. In practice (not shown) the squares of the board substantially at the centers thereof may be provided with vertical holes to receive pins extending downwardly from the chessmen or checkers, this being desirable in game boards of the small size to which this invention is most applicable. It is of course to be understood that the same saving of chessmen, checkers or other game implements may be utilized in other than so-called pocket games, the small size not in itself being an essential feature of the invention.

This invention has been commercialized at a considerable scale and has proven very successful. The invention is defined in the appended claims and is to be considered comprehensive of all forms of structure coming within their scope.

I claim: 7

1. In a construction of the class described, a game board comprising a block of rectangular form, said block at its lower side having a tray receiving recess therein extending from the lower side of the block upwardly therein, and entirely across the block and opening on the front and back surfaces, a tray having approximately the same dimensions as the recess, slidably received in the recess, a cover having a bottom section secured to the lower side of the block and across said recess and forming a bottom for said tray to rest upon, end sections joined with opposite edges of said bottom section adapted to be turned upwardly to retain the tray against slidable movement within said recess in the block, one of said end sections having an upper cover section adapted to be located over the upper side of said block and means for releasably joining said upper cover section with the other of said end sections whereby all sections of the upper cover portions may be located in the same horizontal plane permitting the tray in said recess to be moved outwardly, as specified.

2. In a construction of the class described, a game board comprising, a solid block of rectangular form, said block at its lower side between opposite side edges thereof having a tray receiving recess therein cut from the block, said recess having vertical sides, a substantially horizontal top and open at its lower side and extending across the block and having open ends at the front and back surfaces of the block, a cover having a horizontal back section secured to the lower side of the block and extending across said recess, forming a bottom whereby a tray having approximately the same dimensions as the recess may be slidably received therein and rest upon said bottom, cover end sections joined with opposite edges of said bottom section and turnable upwardly against the vertical front and rear of the block, one of said end sections having an upper cover section adapted to be located over the upper side of the block, and means for releasably joining said upper cover section with the other of said end sections whereby the cover section and the end section to which it is attached may be located in the same horizontal plane with said bottom, permitting the tray in said recess to be moved outwardly, said tray being held against movement when said upper cover section is releasably connected with the other of said end sections of the cover.

3. In a construction of the class described, a game board of solid material comprising a block of rectangular form having a recess across it at its lower side, said recess in the block being open at each end and at the under side thereof and having sides spaced inwardly from the adjacent sides of the block, a cover made from a continuous fiat piece of material having a bottom section located underneath the block and permanently secured thereto and extending across the lower side of said recess to close said lower side thereof, said cover including end sections adapted to be turned upwardly against opposite sides of the block to cover the ends of said recess, said end sections at their upper edges when thus turned upwardly having extensions turnable inwardly toward each other over the upper side of the block, said extensions having means for releasably securing them together, and at least one of said end sections and the extension connected therewith being adapted to be moved into the same horizontal plane with said bottom to uncover the end of the recess covered by said end section.

WILLIAM F. DRUEKE. 

